ID card makover includes added student services

Students may find themselves getting carded much more frequently next fall.

If all goes according to schedule, the University's new ID cards should finally be ready for action by the 1998 Summer Session, said David Rose, manager of the ID card office.

The new card system, called id+, will take over all the functions of the current cards and will offer optional new functions as a MAC card, an AT&T phone card and possibly a way to buy snacks downtown, Rose said.

At that point, Rose said, the old cards will no longer work.

Because all students will need to have a new card by then, the ID card office plans to bring in temporary employees and equipment for two weeks of card upgrading at the end of April, Rose said.

The new card will make things simpler for students, said Art Wawiernia (senior-civil engineering.)

"I think it's a great idea," he said, adding that the benefits of moving to a futuristic, integrated card will make up for any initial problems.

Whether the cards will have a computer chip similar to the ones on the University's new, on-campus laundry cards is still in question.

All the chip functions rely on emerging technology, so the ID committee is moving forward cautiously, said Tom Gibson, chair of the ID card committee.

If the chip is successful it will process transactions without having to contact a central computer to check the card's identity, as is necessary with MAC or food service point purchases, said Joel Weidner, ID card project leader.

Rose said problems last fall with new chip-based laundry cards show how important it is to carefully test new technologies.

"This technology is relatively new, and we went through a learning phase," Rose said.

The new card system was scheduled to be ready by this semester, but trying to coordinate the MAC function of the card with the various community banks contributed to the delay, Rose said. The Penn State Federal Credit Union is helping organize the banking functions of the card, he said.

Because of privacy concerns, a 16-digit code will be printed on the new cards instead of the ID number that is on the current cards, Weidner said.

In addition to a photo of the cardholder, the new design will have a picture of the Nittany Lion Shrine, Weidner added.

"The new card is going to look very sharp, and I think people are going to be proud to carry it around," Weidner said.

The upcoming id+ cards should not be confused with the white ID cards the ID card office is currently issuing, Rose said. Many students still have older blue ID cards, which function the same way as the cards currently being issued.